Gabriel Medina Says No To Teahupo’o Wildcard

Once Gabby’s pants are back on, he zips up and vanishes. No second chances with the Brazilian world champ. 

Quick refresher: In the lead-up to the 2025 season opener at Pipe, Gabby tore his pectoralis moralis clean off the bone in a rogue oop gone sideways. He limped to Instagram to announce he’d be “out for a while,” choosing to check in event-by-event, rather than pulling the plug on the whole season. 

But as the events ticked over, with Jordy Smith winning an unprecedented number of them, there was no sign of Gabby. Until last week.

So the story goes, Gabs extended a polite hand to the WSL, asking for a spot in the final CT event of the year. Twice a Teahupo’o champ, four-time runner-up, Olympic bronze medalist, and unwitting poster boy for the most famous surf photo ever snapped. You’d think that résumé would buy him an express pass.

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But the WSL stood firm. “No wildcards left for Tahiti,” they said. “They’ve already been handed out — one to Kauli, the other to the trials winner.”

They did mention the injury replacement spot was his if he wanted it, but that meant waiting on someone else to get hurt and a last-minute call-up. Gabby’s camp hard passed, and they meant it. 

Yesterday, Alejo Muniz pulled out of the comp, citing a lingering injury from J-Bay. The WSL moved fast to offer his spot to Gabby, hoping there was still a crack in his calendar. He declined, citing scheduling issues. 

The wildcard went instead to Teiva Tairoa, the 35-year-old runner-up in the trials. Other wildcards include Kauli Vaast, and on the women’s side, Vahine Fierro and 12-year-old trials winner, Kelia Gallina.

Until next year, Gabby.